INCENTIVES TO RELIGIOUS DECISION
Isaiah 65:13-15. Behold My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry, &c.
The principles of God’s conduct are the same in all ages, &c. No temptation is more common than that which arises from the impression that a life of religion is necessarily a life of gloom, &c. I urge upon the undecided some reasons for religious decision.
I. From the superior advantages of the religious life, beyond all the boasted distinctions or professions of worldly and ungodly men.
1. They have a better Master and portion. God loves to speak of them as His servants. He claims them as His own, and they rejoice in their allegiance to Him (Isaiah 65:8-15). How greatly God honours His servants! Let Christians rejoice in the Master they serve. Let the impenitent contrast the master they serve, &c. Your master is bad; his service is worse; his wages are worst of all. Abandon Satan’s service. Become servants of Christ—here and now.
2. They have better resources and supplies. They have meat to eat which the world knows not of, and they drink of springs of refreshment which never fail, &c. What has the worldling to put over against the peace which passeth understanding, &c.?
3. They have better enjoyments (Isaiah 65:14). Religion has its conflicts, &c. But we maintain that the Christian has a large over-balance of joy.
4. They have better prospects. Even now a portion with the people of God is better than the best portion of the wicked, &c. But look at their hereafter.
II. From the peculiar sources of dissatisfaction and wretchedness to which you are exposed.
You have conscious condemnation, ever growing in evidence, &c.—Samuel Thodey.
Isaiah 65:14. THE JOY OF GOD’S SERVANTS (see vol. i. pp. 234, 320, 321).
There is a striking difference between those who keep and those who forsake God’s commands. The one is the object of His favour, the other of His displeasure. Those who serve God have abundant and constant occasion of rejoicing, whereas those who forsake Him exclude themselves from all true joy (Isaiah 65:13-15). Consider—
I. THE GROUNDS AND REASONS OF THEIR JOY.
God’s servants have the joy of—
1. Salvation (Psalms 51:12). Includes acceptance, adoption, cleansing, &c. (Romans 5:11). What a joy is this!
2. Claiming God as their portion (Lamentations 3:24, and others). Excites joy even in adversity. The stream may be cut off, but nothing can deprive them of the fountain.
3. God’s abiding presence.
4. Faith. Trusting God’s care, &c. Brings peace and heart-rest.
5. A well founded hope of heaven (Romans 5:2). This animates and sustains amid life’s sorrows. In the experience of such blessings God’s servants have good reason to sing for joy of hearts. And if there is so much joy in the way to heaven, what transports shall they have when they come to Zion with songs, &c. (Isaiah 51:11).
II. THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR JOY.
It is—
1. Pure and spiritual (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22). A holy feeling, excited by spiritual objects, apprehended by faith. Suited to the noble faculties and sublime hopes of their heaven-born souls. Leaves no bitter sediment.
2. Satisfying. Such we seek. Only God’s servants realise. God has so made us that no worldly joy can satisfy us.
3. Strengthening. For—
(1) Duty. Gives vigour to all the powers of the soul. Not so carnal joys.
(2) Suffering (Romans 5:3, and others).
(3) Christian work. Feeds zeal like oil to the wick of a lamp.
(4) Spiritual conflict.
4. Enduring (Philippians 4:4). Does not depend upon uncertain worldly good (Habakkuk 3:17-19). Lives through all the vicissitudes of this mortal life (John 15:11; John 16:22).
CONCLUSION.—
1. Have you religion enough to make you really happy?
2. Have you to lament that it is much deadened and interrupted. Earnestly seek its increase and fulness (John 15:11; John 17:13). This joy beautifies, adorns, and renders attractive the Christian character. You are bound to be joyful as a means of honouring your Divine master, and being useful to your fellow-men.—Alfred Tucker.
Isaiah 65:16. The happy change. I. Trouble forgotten, as a thing past. Excluded. II. Blessing secured, on earth. In God, therefore real. In the God of truth, therefore permanent. By direct appeal to God, as the sole object of prayer.
Isaiah 65:17-18. I. The regenerated world. Glorious prospect! The feelings it should inspire. II. The power by which it will be effected. III. The blessed results.
Isaiah 65:19. God’s joy in His people. I. Its occasion. II. Expression. Favour. Fellowship. Blessing. III. The happy consequence—the alleviation of human sorrow.—J. Lyth, D.D.
Isaiah 65:20. “The sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” I. The shortness of human life. A man a hundred years old is a wonder. Contrast the age of man with that of the works of nature, art, &c. II. The long-suffering of God. Though He sees all the sins of the sinner, and hates, and is able to punish them, He delays His stroke for a hundred years. His power over Himself. III. The malignity of sin. There is no self-restoring power in the soul as in the body. There are no spontaneous cures of spiritual diseases. The power of habit. Worse and worse. IV. The inexhaustibleness of the curse. It is not exhausted by a century, nor by a millennium, nor by the cycles of eternity. V. The claims of religion upon the old. Depict the dangers of hoary-headed sinners. There is still a method of escape. Accept the Saviour immediately.—G. Brooks: Outlines of Sermons, p. 341.